Throughout human mythology, Heroes have been the intermediary between the mundane and the transcendent. The modern trend of banal protagonists and action-free adventures has robbed the genre of the iconic vitality that constitutes its soul, its core premise. Morrison unabashedly offers a thematic integrity that contains vast wealth, both in the superficial elements of entertainment and in the deeper process of conveying ideas. I highly recommend this issue. Read Full Review

This first issue packs it all in: excellent characterization, all-out action, and continuity hints for those few who remember another Guardian playing a regular extra in the Superman books. Mr. Stargard is a bit cartoonish, but hes meant to be, and as a foil to the imminently well-grounded Jordan should prove a fascinating contrast. Also, Grant Morrison offers a bit of a different spin on the cop who made a mistake trope, portraying Jordan as an officer who killed an innocent more or less in cold blood. This makes Manhattan Guardian a story of redemption, a mode Morrison has proven his skill with in books like The Invisibles and his run on JLA. Read Full Review

Cameron Stewart's run on Catwoman made me a big fan of his work, and as such I'm delighted to discover he's lined up to be the artist of this miniseries, as he's the ideal artist for what looks to be a pretty action heavy title. He gets the issue off to a wonderful start as that opening double page spread does an amazing job of capturing the sheer absurdity of the pirate attack but at the same time when one takes the time to study the image, you see that the attacks are actually quite horrific. There's also a great wince inducing moment where one of the pirates recovers a treasure map that was tattooed on a man's back. The action sequence later in the issue was also well done, as Jake's efforts have a nice sense of energy to them, though I will say that the art could have done a better job of selling the idea of how he was able to disable the Golem, as the magic symbols that animate the creature aren't focused on until Jake rubs them out. Still, the final page image is a wonderfull Read Full Review

I may have given the impression that I didnt like this comic, which is somewhat misleading. I liked it a great deal; its a superb comic, truth be told, but given that its part of Grant Morrisons Big Comics Experiment, I just expected a great deal more. This would get four bullets easily under normal circumstances, but it just seems out of place as part of this event. Read Full Review